A large truck jumped out of the fog, speeding straight towards the group of zombies. The truck smashed into the undead, knocking them everywhere like bowling pins. Over ten zombies were killed immediately. Their bodies dispersed into light and entered the vehicle. The driver of the truck slammed on their breaks, but the vehicle couldn’t stop in time. It collided with the wall of the school.
The group was delighted. The truck created a gap between the zombies and them, giving them safety from the zombies. Just as they continued to make their way towards the door, Eric stopped. Michael looked over with a frown, “Don’t stop!”
“But…” Eric looked towards the motionless truck, “The truck isn’t moving.”
“So what? They made their choice! What can we do with no stamina?” Michael said callously.
Eric clenched his hands and looked at his information screen. His eyes lit up as he glanced at a zombie on the ground next to them.
Level 1 Zombie
Health: 2/10
He nodded, making up his decision. He slowly walked over to the zombie. He clenched his bat and raised it above his head. He moved slow, no faster than a snail. The zombie gripped his ankle and prepared to bite into him. Seconds seemed to turn into hours at this moment.
It felt like the baseball bat weighed over a hundred pounds, but he finally raised it. Swinging down was easier than raising the bat, and with a soft thud, the bat smacked into the zombie’s head.
-2
It collapsed to the ground and dispersed into light.
10 XP Acquired.
You are now level 5.
You have gained 1 Stat Point.
You have gained 1 Skill Point.
By reaching level 5, you have gained access to the skill shop.
He received two screens he’d never seen before, but he ignored them. He had more pressing matters. He immediately placed his stat point into endurance. He instantly felt some strength return to him. By raising his endurance by 1, he gained 2 stamina.
“What are you doing!?” Michael screamed at him.
“Don’t worry, I just leveled up! Go to the door, I’ll meet you there!” Eric shouted behind him as he ran towards the truck.
“Tch,” Michael clicked his tongue at Eric’s reckless behavior, but he trusted his best friend. He and Courtney made their way to the door.
Eric was still tired, but it was nothing like before. The zombies were moving towards the truck, but they were still a bit away. He could make it!
A few seconds later, he reached the driver’s door. He tried to open it, but it was locked. With no time to waste, he raised his bat and struck the window, shattering it into bits of glass. He reached inside and unlocked the door. When he opened it, his eyes widened in surprise, “Mr. Drew?”
The person Eric least expected to be inside was Mr. Drew. When Michael was explaining his plan, Mr. Drew showed complete disregard towards them. In the end, he stormed off and disappeared.
“Mr. Drew, wake up! We have to go!” Eric shouted.
Mr. Drew didn’t respond. He was unconscious, with blood dripping down his forehead. The collision caused his airbags to be deployed, but they must have knocked him out. Eric quickly reached inside and unplugged the seatbelt. He dropped the bat and used both hands to pull Mr. Drew out of the vehicle. He carried the teacher while running towards the door. Thankfully his increased strength made it much easier to carry out this task. If it was before, he didn’t think he could carry someone and run at the same time.
Eric made his way around the zombies and reached the door not long later. Michael was looking out the window, and when he saw Eric arrive, he opened it. When Eric entered inside, Michael locked the door. The zombies started to bang on the door not long after.
Michael checked the durability of the door and let out a sigh of relief. It would hold for now.
Metal Door
Durability: 483/500
The group collapsed the ground, gasping for breath. Their mission was almost complete, but they had lost Freddie.
Chapter 8
Eric, Michael, and Courtney sat on the ground. They leaned against the wall of the hallway as they recovered. Mr. Drew was on the ground next to them. Nobody said anything. All they could hear was the banging on the door.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
All of them had different reactions towards the sound. Michael was indifferent, while Eric quivered with rage. He wanted to tear them to pieces for what they did to Freddie. How could someone so selfless die so easily? Everything was proceeding smoothly, but one small mistake led to a death.
Courtney’s eyes were red. Tears streamed down her face as she said, “You know… Freddie… I knew him since middle school. It’s funny… he doesn’t look like a nice guy with his stature, but he was so kind.”
“So kind…” Courtney muttered as she buried her head into her knees.
Thirty minutes passed as they recovered. It was at this time that Mr. Drew suddenly stood straight up. He looked around in fear before realizing he was safe. He let out a sigh of relief.
Eric looked at him with a grateful smile, “Y’know, I never would have expected you to save us. Thanks, Mr. Drew.”
“Thanks to you, we made it out alive,” Courtney thanked.
“Hmph,” Mr. Drew looked away, “it sets me the wrong way if I do nothing when brats like you are risking your necks.”
“Still gotta be a bit of a jerk, huh? I saved you afterwards, so I guess we’re even?” Eric said with a laugh.
Mr. Drew glared at Eric for a moment before breaking out into a grin. He wiped the blood from his head with his sleeve before sighing, “Ah, ah, the principal is going to get mad at me. I crashed her car.”
“That was hers!?” Eric said with a start. Who would have thought the small and plump principal drove such a large truck.
Mr. Drew looked up at the metal door, “How many zombies are left?”
Michael reported casually, “Just them. We cleared the entire school except for the front entrance.”
Eric suddenly remembered the screen that appeared when he leveled up. It said something about a skill point and a skill shop, right? He opened his information screen and found something new. At the top, there were two buttons. One said Eric, and the other said skill shop. He focused on the skill shop button.
His stats disappeared and were replaced by a massive screen. It was at least 3 times bigger than before. Everyone looked over in surprise, “What is that?”
“It says skill shop. I unlocked it when I reached level 5,” Eric explained that he gained a skill point as well.
Everybody came over to Eric and looked at his screen. The screen was filled 8 rectangular boxes, each filled with information.
Blunt Weapon Mastery - Level 1
Cost:
1 Skill Point
Effect(s):
+25% Blunt Weapon Damage
Blade Weapon Mastery - Level 1
Cost:
1 Skill Point
Effect(s):
+25% Blade Weapon Damage
Projectile Weapon Mastery - Level 1
Cost:
1 Skill Point
Effect(s):
+25% Projectile Weapon Damage
Scavenging - Level 1
Cost:
1 Skill Point
Effect(s):
Occasionally receive useful items when killing undead.
Fireball - Level 1
Cost:
1 Skill Point
Skill:
Cast a Fireball at your target.
Consumes 2 Mana.
Deals 2 Damage instantly, and another 10 damage over 5 seconds.
Has a chance to spread to other targets.
Icebolt - Level 1
Cost:
1 Skill Point
Skill:
Cast an Icebolt at your target.
Consumes 2 Mana.
Deals 10 damage instantly.
Target becomes slowed, moving 25% slower.
Gust of Air - Level 1
Cost:
1 Skill Point
Skill:
Cast a gust of air at your target.
Consumes 2 Mana.
Knock targets backward, with a chance of knocking them to the ground.
Earth Spike - Level 1
Cost:
1 Skill Point
Skill:
Cast an Earth Spike at your target.
Consumes 2 Mana.
Deals 10 damage.
Stuns target for 2 seconds.
As the group read the list of information, they couldn’t believe it. Would they really be able to cast magic like in movies? Imagine that, to command the elements at your fingertips!
Michael suddenly burst into laughter, “Hahahaha!”
The group looked over at him in bewilderment, unable to understand why he was laughing. A few seconds later, Michael stopped laughing and wiped a tear from his eye. He looked at his companions and realized that what he just did was inappropriate. He apologized, “Sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”
The group shrugged and went back to looking at the skill shop. Michael closed his eyes as he thought to himself, “I lost control there. I couldn’t help myself. Things are getting too interesting! I have to get to level 5 quickly. I wonder what mana feels like? Is it like a muscle? Damn, I’m getting excited just thinking about it!”
Courtney glanced at Eric, “What are you going to choose?”
“Blunt weapon mastery, of course! With this, I’ll be able to kill a zombie in 1 hit! That’ll save so much stamina,” Eric imagined himself spending the skill point on the blunt weapon mastery as he explained.
A screen appeared, informing him of his purchase.
Blunt Weapon Mastery - Level 1
Effect(s):
+25% Blunt Weapon Damage
He switched over to the tab that said Eric. He once again found his stats, except at the bottom there was a new box. It said skills. He found his newly purchased ability there.
Eric looked at his stamina and found that it was enough. He looked over at his friends, “Ready to finish them off?”
Courtney grimaced at his question, while Michael frowned, “Where’s your bat?”
“Oh…,” Eric looked down at his empty hands. He recalled that he dropped it when saving Mr. Drew. He rubbed the back of his head and muttered, “I dropped it next to the principal’s truck.”
Courtney’s eyes lit up. She handed over her bat, “Here, take mine. I… I don’t want to go out there right now.”
“You sure?”
She insisted, “Please.”
Eric shrugged before taking the bat. He looked down and wondered what durability it was. Wouldn’t want to have it break during the fight, right?
Metal Baseball Bat
Damage: 3
Durability: 79/125
Seeing that everything was in order, Eric looked over at Michael, “You good?”
“Yeah. Just let me get 7 kills. I want to hit level 5,” Michael said.
“No problem,” Eric said while walking up to the door.
Michael quickly stopped Eric, “Wait, don’t go through there. We’ll exit another way.”
“Uhh, right,” Eric turned around and followed Michael. There were at least 50 zombies outside that door.
Mr. Drew coughed lightly, “I’ll go tell the principal the good news. She was worried sick when the door was about to break.”
“I’ll come with you,” Courtney said.
Michael and Eric walked through the school until they found a door leading outside. It was the next one over, so they weren’t far from the zombies. Michael looked out the window before pushing it open. Together, they made their way to the zombies.
With a light shout, the zombies were attracted towards them. Eric wanted to test his new skill, so he quickly ran up to a zombie in the front. He used 70% of his strength, not willing to use too much stamina. The zombie collapsed to the ground as a screen appeared in front of him.
-20
“Success!” Eric felt jubilation at the easy kill. When he first fought a zombie, it took him multiple hits to kill one. Now, it was as simple as pie. The last zombie dispersed into light 15 minutes later. Michael successfully reached level 5. He used his skill point to purchase the fireball skill. Unfortunately he couldn’t test it out, because the zombies were all dead.
A large screen suddenly appeared in front of Michael.
You have cleared Saint High School of all undead!
As the one with the most contribution, you have been granted ownership of Saint's High School.
Congratulations, you have acquired your first territory! You have unlocked the Territory Management panel.
At the same time, the fog that surrounded the school was pushed back. They could now clearly see the whole school and the parking lot. It was like they were in a giant clear box. Eric laughed loudly, “We did it!”
Michael gave a nod in acknowledgement before looking back at his screen. A smile spread across his face as he thought, “Now this… this is what I wanted to see.”
Chapter 9
Eric couldn’t help but see the gigantic screen in front of Michael. He walked over with a curious look, “What’s that?”
Michael smiled slightly, “Something good. Check it out.”
The top of the screen said, ‘Saint High School Territory’. Below it were several boxes containing information.
Saint High School Territory
Development Level: 3
Facilities: 3/5
Level 2 Kitchen.
The territory has a kitchen that provides rations for 50 people.
Current Ration Stock: 50/50
Stock is restored at midnight.
Level 1 Armory.
The territory has an armory that provides equipment.
Current Equipment:
0/5 Metal Baseball Bats
All destroyed equipment is restored at midnight.
Level 1 Hospital.
The territory has a hospital that recovers the health points of users residing within.
Current Recovery Rate:
+1 HP/m
*All zombies killed within the territory provide kill points towards the killer as well as the territory owner.
*Kill points can be spent to purchase and upgrade facilities and defenses.
*Development level is determined by the owner's strength and the level of facilities and defenses.
*All defenses automatically recover 30 HP/h. This number is dependant on the development level of the territory.
All of this information was only half of the screen. The other half was blank. When Michael focused on the kitchen facility, the side that was blank became filled with information.
(Requires 1,000 Kill Points to upgrade)
Level 3 Kitchen.
The territory has a kitchen that provides rations for 100 people.
Stock is restored at midnight.
He couldn’t afford this upgrade. He’d only killed around 80 zombies so far, much less a 1,000. He looked at the hospital and found that the upgrade restored health faster. He figured the hospital was where the nurse worked, and the kitchen was where the cafeteria was. The armory must be where they got the metal bats.
The armory upgrade was more complicated. He could actually chose from a list of weapons he would like the armory to stock. The list was long. There were blade weapons, blunt weapons, and even weapons like a chainsaw. There were also guns, but those required a higher armory level. They were far from reach for now.
Michael walked over to the main entrance of the school. Eric stood beside him as they inspected the metal doors. Eric let out a sigh of relief, “Looks like we cut it close.”
The metal doors were cracked and bent. They were on the verge of collapse. How could the banging of zombies do so much damage?
ZOMBIE SLAYER!!: A LitRPG Apocalypse Page 5
